A few days ago, fellow blogger Octavia got a strange message from an unknown person on Facebook. Since the entire message was in Japanese, I did a brief translation of the message. But well… why not take that opportunity to learn some Japanese? And so here it is!

Here’s a look at the message in full. With sensitive information removed for obvious reasons.

いきなりのメッセージすみません（´；д；｀）

この間友達とフェイスブック見てて、友達がOctaviaさんに興味持ったみたいで…

メアド貼っておくので、もし良かったら連絡してあげてもらえませんか…？(人・∀・*)

[email protected]もし御不快でしたらスルーしてください…（●´Д｀●）

Let’s examine it more closely. (I will only provide romanji for the kanji characters)

いきなり – suddenly
の – particle indicating possession
メッセージ – message
すみません- sorry

Putting it together, and rearranging it properly, the first sentence says:
Sorry for the sudden message.

この間 – kono aida – recently
間 (aida) = time, period etc etc etc

友達と (tomodachi to) – with a friend
フェイスブック – facebook
見てて – looking at

友達がOctaviaLaoさんに興味持ったみたいで… – because my friend seems to be interested in OctaviaLao-san…

興味 – kyoumi – interest, curiosity
持った – motta – hold, process etc

メアド – short of mail address
貼っておくので- has been pasted
貼って – hatte – pasted

もし良かったら
もし – if
良かったら yokattara – if you like

連絡してあげてもらえませんか…？(人・∀・*) could I get you to contact her?
連絡 renraku – get in touch, contact

もし御不快でしたらスルーしてください… if if makes you uncomfortable please ignore
不快 fukai – unpleasant; displeasure; discomfort
スルー – ignoring; looking the other way; letting pass (Colloquialism)

Overall translation:

Sorry for the sudden message.

Recently, I was looking at Facebook with my friend, and it seems like my friend is interested in Octavia-san…

I’ve given you the email address, if you wish, could you contact my friend…?

If it makes you uncomfortable, please ignore this…

What a strange message to receive… Octavia duly ignored that message, but I can’t help re-read the last sentence and think about how polite the Japanese are.